CFROG is a Ventura County-based advocacy organization leading a just transition away from fossil fuels to protect the health, economy, and climate of all. Working across the just transition, CFROG engages, educates, and mobilizes young people to take action on local climate issues, preparing the next generation of young people to work towards solutions that fight the climate crisis in the Environmental Voices Academy (EVA).

EVA is a program for youth and young adults who are interested in creating tangible changes in the local Ventura County community for a better future. Students are exposed to a combination of curriculum and hands-on experience, learning about a wide variety of topics, from the impacts of rare earth mining for electrification to how to develop strategic advocacy campaigns.

Most recently, EVA students have been utilizing what they have learned in classes to engage with local elected bodies, urging school boards and city councils to take climate action by passing resolutions calling for the end of oil and gas drilling in California.

These resolution campaigns are the root of EVA’s activism. They are local, direct, and tangible pieces of policy that build support among communities and increase pressure on county and state representatives to take similar action. Principally authored by students, the resolutions are motivated entirely by the concerns of youth, reflecting the current issues that stand out and require action. 

For the students, there are many interrelated problems that need to be addressed. 

First, Ventura County is the third-largest producer of oil and gas in California, and second, is the fastest-warming county in the entire continental United States. Third, Ventura County communities are littered with oil and gas wells, with over 60,000 residents living within 3,200 feet of an operational oil or gas well, the majority of whom are Latino.

This close proximity to wells, both operational and idle, is directly linked with adverse health impacts, including respiratory distress, reproductive challenges, and cancer. These negative health impacts are further complicated by the increasing presence of climate change-driven wildfires. Youth are seeing destructive wildfires happening more often and with more intensity each year, posing a significant threat to health, property, and the planet.

For many youth across Ventura County, their childhoods have been marked by one devastating fire after another; their communities are peppered with drilling, while they suffocate at the hands of industry.

The Fight

Recent state policies have attempted to remedy the injustices associated with communities living so close to drilling and shouldering the costs for climate catastrophes without polluter accountability. In 2022, SB 1137 was signed into law by Governor Newsom, implementing a 3,200-foot setback zone between sensitive areas (like homes, schools, and hospitals) and oil and gas wells.

After years of legal and political challenges from the industry, the law officially went into effect in June of 2024. But implementation did not equal enforcement; on the same day of the law’s implementation, 30 drilling permits were issued in Los Angeles, all within the setback zone. Advocates across the state are still fighting for a complete and timely implementation of SB 1137, which has yet to happen. 

For CFROG youth, these realities were unacceptable. Their resolution campaign was initially born of a desire to support SB 1137’s implementation and enforcement, but has since evolved to encourage polluter accountability for the financial costs and damages caused by the climate crisis, driven by the fossil fuel industry. The resolutions contain a number of key points, urging Governor Newsom and the Ventura County Board of Supervisors to: 

• Immediately stop issuing permits for oil & gas production;
• Accelerate the process of phasing out oil and gas extraction in California through a just transition that protects workers and frontline communities;
• Immediately implement the 3,200 ft health and safety setback specified in SB 1137.
• Ensure polluter accountability by supporting the California Polluter Pays Climate Superfund Act of 2025 (SB684/AB1243).

Following the successful passage of these resolutions at the Oxnard Union High School District’s Board of Trustees, the City of Ojai, and the City of Oxnard, CFROG youth are currently pursuing passing a similar resolution at the Camarillo City Council, this time including language to support the California Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act of 2025.

Most recently, the City of Camarillo was devastated by the Mountain Fire in November of 2024, which burned 19,904 acres, causing the Air Quality Index (AQI) to surge above 160 (far beyond what is considered safe for anyone to breathe), and causing over an estimated $200 million in financial damages. 

In the aftermath of this disaster, youth are working towards accountability from the fossil fuel companies responsible for these disasters by urging support for the California Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act of 2025. Fire weather is becoming increasingly more common, as climate change—caused by increased greenhouse gasses from fossil fuel combustion—makes hotter, drier, and windier conditions more common while simultaneously providing more amounts of dry vegetation for fuel.

The bill would require major fossil fuel companies to compensate for climate damages in California, based on their historical emissions, with funds directed toward climate resilience, clean energy, and impacted communities. Supporting long-term environmental and economic recovery efforts, these proportional fees would amount to less than 0.01% of company profits over 20 years.

Communities like Camarillo and others across Ventura County would benefit from the funds built through this bill, with 40% of funds generated from the bill being directed towards designated disadvantaged communities.

Looking Ahead

While these school boards and city councils do not hold the power to regulate oil and gas drilling or pass state laws, they do represent the people who are affected by the consequences of this industry and climate catastrophes. Collectively, these elected bodies represent hundreds of thousands of students, residents of environmental justice communities, survivors of wildfires and flooding, and more.

While ultimately, the Board of Supervisors is responsible for permitting and allowing oil and gas extraction in Ventura County, passing resolutions among local elected bodies sends a powerful message to the Board of Supervisors that continuing oil and gas extraction is harmful to communities and residents. These resolutions are local; they are made by the youth who suffer the consequences of climate change and fossil fuels, which is what makes them so important. They send a message to larger changemakers and represent the concerns of local communities.

Youth are working right now to protect their health, economy, and climate, and they need your help. As the Lorax said, “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot…”

Register for biweekly meetings with CFROG here or contact abrah@cfrog.org to learn how to get involved or support their campaigns.

To learn more about CFROG, visit our website or follow us on social media.

Fossil fuels are the leading cause of energy grid blackouts. As the climate crisis worsens, America’s rising energy demand and increasingly frequent extreme weather events are leading to more energy grid blackouts. Some are quick to point the finger at renewable energy, however, renewable energy has actually become more reliable than traditional fossil fuel-based energy in recent years.

Take Winter Storm Elliott in 2022—where failing gas plants were responsible for 70 percent of its forced outages and coal was responsible for 16 percent, while wind production remained high during the storm. In places like New England, the winds blow strongest when temperatures are the coldest, and therefore, when the heating needs are greatest.

2. Investing in clean energy creates jobs and opportunities

The passage of the Inflation Reduction Act sparked a resurgence in U.S. manufacturing and production across the country. In just two years, the 2022 clean energy tax credits included in this legislation spurred $450 billion in private investments that created over 400,000 new jobs in the clean energy sector.

A good portion of these investments have been in rural areas—bringing over $56 billion in investment and 64,943 jobs to those communities across 32 states. These aren’t just numbers on a page, they represent additional income for landowners, tax revenue for local economies, and new career growth opportunities for families that work in manufacturing, construction, and operations.

3. Expanding renewable energy leads to cleaner air, water, and a safer climate across the country

The connection has never been more clear. Burning fossil fuels releases dangerous levels of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and along with it, a combination of chemicals that form particulate matter. These particles cause respiratory illnesses, cardiovascular disease, premature death, aggravated asthma, and cancer. Air pollution also poses a significant threat to wildlife, impacting their health, reproduction, and survival, as well as the ecosystems they inhabit.

Unlike finite fossil fuels that are being depleted at a rapid rate, solar, wind, and next-generation geothermal are renewable resources that don’t emit greenhouse gases or other pollutants when operating.

That means no pollution seeping into our air and water or heating our planet. Even when comparing to the total life cycle of greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels including extraction, manufacturing, and construction, renewables still emit much less than fossil fuels. For example, from cradle to grave, coal-fired electricity releases 20 times more GHGs per kilowatt-hour than solar or wind.

4. Expanding renewable energy will boost American prosperity, security, and independence

Investing in clean energy will make America’s energy system more secure and competitive in the global economy. The cost of wind and solar has already fallen over the past decade, making them the most affordable new electricity sources and good sources of state and local taxes, contributing roughly $1.4 billion every year.

Based on current trends, China is set to account for almost 60 percent of all renewables capacity worldwide over the next five years. The only way to maintain American leadership and outcompete other countries is to diversify our energy system—which includes the expansion of renewables and an updated energy grid that can support our demand.

The United States must secure our energy independence, protect our grid, and increase our domestic supply of reliable, affordable, carbon-free energy sources. We are currently too reliant on energy from overseas that is subject to global price fluctuations and geopolitics. Investing in clean energy manufacturing helps bring supply chains back to the U.S. and grow quality, American jobs.

5. Fossil fuels are expensive

Artificially low prices of oil and gas are dependent on heavy subsidies from the American taxpayers. Although subsidies can reduce the cost of living and cost of oil and gas in the short term, the government may need to raise taxes, acquire more debt, and reduce spending on other public services in order to give those subsidies to corporations.

The reality is that the American people pay for fossil fuel subsidies, $750 billion in 2022 alone. So are they really making things more affordable? Not when you also take into account the health issues caused by air pollution or the economic losses of air pollution—$790 billion per year or around five percent of GDP.

6. Clean energy helps people and wildlife

Renewable energy offers an unmatched opportunity to help meet the challenge of climate change by reducing fossil fuel side effects: carbon dioxide emissions. Through responsible siting, advanced mitigation measures, and ongoing environmental monitoring, we can ensure that renewable energy sources support clean energy goals while protecting wildlife and local ecosystems.

By responsibly developing renewable energy, we can both protect habitats and address climate change by advocating for avoidance and risk reduction measures like limiting activities during peak wildlife migration times, using innovative technology, and thorough environmental review of possible siting and development impacts.

Strong community engagement and benefits agreements help ensure that renewable energy projects bring lasting shared economic and infrastructure improvements to the places where they are built.

Luckily, companies across the U.S. and beyond have been studying and producing Sustainable Aviation Fuels at a small scale for decades.

But what are Sustainable Aviation Fuels? (Referred to as SAF.) They are a class of fuels that are not made from petroleum while still meeting all of the safety and efficiency standards to power an aircraft. Crucially, SAF must also emit at least 50% fewer greenhouse gas emissions as compared to traditional fuel. These emissions must include all the emissions it takes to produce the fuel, as well as emissions that are released when the fuel is combusted.

SAF is primarily made from vegetable oils like soy, palm, and canola as well as waste cooking oil or tallow from livestock processing. However aviation is a huge industry, and the U.S. does not produce enough of these crop based biofuels to meet the demand for jet fuel production. 

It’s important to consider the ecological impacts of using crop-based biofuels. If demand for SAF continues to grow, as is projected, demand for the crops that are used to create the fuel will increase. At the same time, the existing demand for soy and corn from food markets will continue.

Farmers would then need additional land for farming more of these crops that otherwise could have been grasslands or forested land. Whenever possible it is important to preserve grassland and forest ecosystems to provide habitats for wildlife and to prevent additional soil carbon loss that contributes to climate change. 

Luckily there is an alternative option for farmers! Farmers can rotate crops seasonally and meet the existing demand for soy and corn during the summer and fall while growing cover crops during the winter and spring that can be turned into sustainable aviation fuels. These alternative crops are currently being developed and refined to maximize output, and starting to be deployed in various places around the world.

Outside of crop-based SAF, there are several chemical processes available to produce jet fuel from other sources like hydrogen and CO₂. Water and clean energy flow into a hydrolyzer which creates hydrogen that when combined with waste CO₂ from industrial sources or the air can be turned into SAF. 

It’s important to note that these new synthetic processes have not been proven cost-effective at scale, and there are additional considerations around clean energy demand and water availability that should be taken into account. 

Given the scale of the aviation industry, sustainable aviation fuels will have to play a role in reducing emissions from air travel. However as we have learned there are still gaps in research and development that need to be addressed before SAF can reach its full potential. With smart and strategic government policy, financial investment, and incentives, SAF can play a meaningful role in meeting the needs of the aviation industry while also meeting our climate goals.

At least that’s what the current administration is saying to help justify a recent series of executive orders aimed at boosting coal production. 

In reality, there’s nothing clean about coal. Like other fossil fuel plants, facilities burning coal spew pollutants including mercury, lead, sulfur dioxide, and heavy metals. These are linked to cancers, respiratory diseases, neurological disorders, and death. Particulate matter released from burning coal is actually more toxic than particulate matter from other fossil fuel sources. 

Coal power plant retirements have direct public health benefits. In Pennsylvania, for example, the Keystone facility had over 600 associated deaths per year. That number dropped to 80 deaths per year after installing emissions scrubbers. 

The coal industry has been on the decline for decades. That’s unlikely to change, even with these executive orders. Coal plants are expensive to build and maintain, especially compared to natural gas and renewables. Utility companies have been distancing themselves from coal, increasingly focused on investing in cheaper renewable energy, including wind and solar. Running older and less productive coal plants is also more expensive for consumers, and can lead to higher energy bills.

While this administration is interested in reviving the coal industry, they are simultaneously gutting the federal agencies that keep coal miners safe.

This includes gutting the workforce at key federal agencies, including the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). NIOSH researches and makes recommendations to prevent workplace injury, illness, and death; importantly for coal miners, the agency also tracks deadly black lung disease and offers free, confidential screenings for black lung. MSHA helps ensure mining operations adhere to safety standards designed to prevent explosions, collapses, toxic dust exposure, and other disasters. MSHA regularly inspects mines—as required by federal law—and responds to safety complaints from miners. While some initially planned layoffs at NIOSH were stopped, the agency has still lost staff and capacity.   

MSHA, meanwhile, recently announced an indefinite delay of a standard to limit miners’ exposure to silica dust, the principal cause of black lung disease. Black lung is chronic, progressive, and has been on the rise for the last two decades—appearing in younger and younger miners, who are inhaling more toxic dust as they’ve had to mine deeper and deeper to get out remaining coal. Miners and their allies have been fighting for a strong silica dust standard for decades. MSHA’s decision to postpone a silica standard—based on a convoluted legal argument—is the latest blow to coal miners.

Cutting NIOSH and MSHA funding, and delaying a silica dust standard, puts miners’ lives at risk. And while coal is rightfully a proud, cornerstone industry for many communities and workers, what’s needed is practical, pragmatic information about the future of that industry—not rhetoric or false hope—so those communities and workers can plan for their future. 

My mother is a 3-time lung cancer survivor and a 6-time cancer survivor, and she also suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This is not too surprising, as minority populations are exposed to more air pollution (actually pollution generally) than their White counterparts and race is the most important predictor of exposure to environmental contamination. People who live in predominately Black communities have a greater risk of premature death from air pollution than White communities, and tend to live in areas where there are greater exposures to air pollutants, including near highways, bus terminals and other sources.  

An important study, conducted by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (where I conducted my postdoctoral studies) and published in Nature in 2022, found that racial and ethnic minorities and lower-income groups in the U.S. are at a higher risk of premature death from exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) than other population and income groups.  

The proposed standards are impactful for many who suffer from the detrimental effects of air pollution, like asthma. According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, Black, Hispanic and American Indian/Alaska Native people have the highest asthma rates, asthma deaths and asthma hospitalizations. These groups – and minority groups generally – are disproportionately affected by asthma and have the least success in asthma management. Issues stemming from systemic racism, segregation and discriminatory practices like racism play an enormous role in this observed disparity. I often tell of how my Mom and countless other poor families who could not always afford asthma medication or medical care would hold their child over a bathtub with running hot water, so that the steam from the hot water would hopefully reduce the effects of asthma attacks, thus allowing that the child to breathe easier. My Mom regularly did that very action with my younger brother. 

According to the World Health Organization, more than 25 million people in the United States suffer from asthma and it is a common disease among children. Worldwide, more than 260 million people suffer from it. Black Americans are three times more likely to die from asthma than White Americans, and that increases to 10 times for Black children. In a 2020 landmark case, air pollution was listed as a cause of death by the coroner in a 9-year old Black girl’s death in the United Kingdom. The coroner said the “failure to reduce pollution levels to legal limits possibly contributed to her death, as did the failure to provide her mother with information about the potential for air pollution to exacerbate asthma.” I had an opportunity to speak with the young girl’s mother before the ruling was handed down, and I know how important it was to her to have air pollution listed as a cause of death – so that it would help prevent other air pollutant deaths. In her daughter’s case, the coroner found that air pollution induced and exacerbated her severe form of asthma. 

Other issues that impact a community’s health related to air pollution include socioeconomic status, education, neighborhood and physical environment (which link directly back to systemic racism and discriminatory practices) and access to health care have a definite impact on the disparities in health and exposure.  

The ramifications of these standards are important on a public health level AND a personal level for many, including people living in Cancer Alley, Africa Town, Coal Country, and so many other places where air pollution from coal-fired power plants and fossil fuel-fired plants is linked to asthma, cancer, heart and lung problems, and other illnesses. 

EPA’s proposed standards are poised to save a multitude of lives, particularly those of minority communities, but also to populations generally – including in states downwind from these facilities. As a scientist and a public health professional, I am awed by the potential impact on lives this proposal by EPA will have. As an attorney, I am focused on the need to ensure that once adopted, there is strict enforcement of the standards. As a Black person and a human, I recognize that we are one step closer to decreasing the sheer number of people who suffer needlessly at the hands of those who continually place profit over people. 

Did you know, for example, that since 1998, Exxon Mobil has spent $176,362,742 lobbying Congress, spending almost $7 million in 2012 alone? And did you know that for every dollar the fossil fuel industry invests in Congress, they get at least $320 back in subsidies? Did you know that Exxon Mobil has spent over $22,000,000 since 1998 to fund corporations and think tanks that work to deny global warming?

Institutions of higher education often have mission statements, generally encompassing themes like offering a high-quality education, ensuring a safe learning environment, advancing society and improving the human condition. More recent additions to many university mission statements are mentions of sustainability–a broad term that, for most, brings to mind resource conservation, clean energy projects and a green and sparkling future.

Well that sounds nice. It also sounds like there’s a disconnect between the way things are today and the socially and environmentally just world that universities are striving to create. Colleges and universities aren’t quite putting their money where their mouths are. But that is about to change.

There is a strong and growing collection of students issuing a challenge to institutions nationwide to stop investing in corporations that aren’t looking out for our health, or the health of our planet.

Divestment is a complicated issue, and there is no one-size-fits-all method to magically end campus funding of corporate polluters. Luckily, there are plenty of resources out there to help you and your team choose the most effective strategy for your campus.

The Responsible Endowments Coalition has tons of great resources for students who want to get involved with influencing their campuses’ endowment policies, including a Student Handbook, a collection of articles and blogs about divestment, and several firsthand accounts for best practices. They also offer educational and networking opportunities, like the upcoming conference on responsible investing and sustainability and other ways for students and administrators to connect and build the movement. The Energy Action Coalition has a coal divestment campaign to work with students who want to get their campuses to divest from the biggest and worst coal companies. The Sustainable Endowments Institute just launched the Billion Dollar Challenge to encourage campuses to use their endowments to invest in energy efficiency and clean energy projects for their campus.

So gather some friends and some faculty and see what kind of change you can make!

And now a word from Bill McKibben:

Campus Divestment projects in the news:

• Brown Divest Coal
• Tufts Responsible Endowments Collective
• University of Illinois Beyond Coal campaign

The guide is designed to take students behind the curtains of American politics and policy development to shed light on the handful of fossil fuel-based companies that are pouring money into Congress and the media in an attempt to undermine America’s ability to confront the climate change crisis.

The report describes how the energy industry bankrolls the campaigns of incumbent Congressional representatives holding key energy and environment committee assignments. The guide also covers how political action committees (PACs), super PACs, so-called nonprofit “social welfare groups” and other entities contribute to campaigns and run independent expenditure ads, some without public disclosure of donors. 

This guide also puts out a call to action for students to push back against the huge influence of big oil, gas and coal money and demanding a clean and just energy future by staying informed, learning about the positions their elected officials take and their votes on key environmental and energy legislation and asking that they stop taking handouts from the dirty energy industry.

Report highlights include:

• A closer look at how the fossil fuel industry influences U.S. energy policy
• Top Congressional funders from the oil and gas industry
• What students can do to take action

The report is being released in conjunction with Energy Action Coalition’s Power Vote National Day of Action on which students and youth activists across the country will join together in calling for the end of dirty money political contributions by big polluters. More than 50 events, including rallies and voter registration drives, have been registered on the Power Vote website, and thousands have signed the Power Vote pledge promising to vote for a clean energy future in this election.

“Young voters are mobilizing in record numbers with the Power Vote campaign to use their people power to confront Big Polluters’ dirty money and demand the clean energy and climate solutions that our generation needs,” said Maura Cowley, Executive Director of Energy Action Coalition, the youth coalition running Power Vote.

Since its inception in 1989, NWF’s Campus Ecology program has earned respect as a national leader in the campus sustainability and climate action movement.

Check out more resources for students at CampusEcology.org.

Wealthy polluters are pouring unprecedented millions into advertisements in an effort to influence this election. Ordinary Americans who care about conservation and wildlife may not have the deep pockets of polluters, but they are speaking out.

Just this week, NWF’s Campus Ecology Program released a report: A Student’s Guide to How Corporate Oil, Gas and Coal Money Influences U.S. Energy Policy. Which is about—you guessed it—how polluters have bought their way to the front of the line on Capitol Hill. The effort is teamed up with Energy Action Coalition’s “Power Vote,” which aims to register youth and first time voters who want a say in our energy future.

Checking the Ads

Anyone who watches Mad Men knows advertisers are plugged into our psychology. How do we know what the truth is? Political transparency has become an issue on more and more radar screens, especially after Citizens United v. FEC. But how can you find out the truth during this election cycle? You’re in luck, there’s an app for that.

It’s called the SuperPACApp, and is available for iPhone users. It’s the Shazam for political advertisements. The phone listens to the ad and within seconds reports on:

1. What group funded the ad;
2. How much it costs and
3. Information on the accuracy of the ad.

This app makes the unprecedented spending on political advertisements more transparent—allowing the viewer to gain clarity on what they are actually watching and where it is coming from.

So the next time your eyes start glazing over after yet another attack ad, break out your iPhone. But be careful, you might find yourself looking forward to the next commercial break, just not for the reasons the oil industry wants you to.

Here are some other great resources that peel back the curtain on dirty money:

• Campus Ecology Report
• Sunlight Foundation
• Dirty Energy Money
• Center for Responsive Politics

But, there is also a story about the continued imbalance in our system that favors the old, polluting technology of the past over the clean energy choices of today and the future.

This imbalance is more than a graph with numbers.

This imbalance has real-world consequences that have already led to economic opportunity loss to other countries.

The most tangible example is the recent news that Gamesa, a giant in the wind industry, announced they would be installing an offshore wind prototype in the Spanish Canary Islands, rather than off the shores of Virginia.

From the Richmond-Times Dispatch:  Wind giant snubs Va. for offshore prototype

Global wind giant Gamesa said today it will build a wind turbine prototype in the Spanish Canary Islands instead of Virginia, citing the sluggish pace of U.S. development of offshore winds.

The Spanish company won Virginia regulatory approval in March to construct the 479-foot, 5-megawatt wind turbine prototype off the Eastern Shore. It was viewed as a significant step by the wind technology company to help develop the nascent U.S. wind industry, especially in waters off Virginia.

….

[A] Gamesa spokeswoman said the slow pace of regulatory actions, uncertainty over the future of tax credits for offshore development and the lack of a federal energy policy all conspired against investment in the prototype. (link added)

How Congress can act to fund the solution, not the problem

The signs of climate change, fueled by our continued reliance on carbon-polluting energy, are increasing in urgency. The economic, ecological and even psychological damages are being felt across the country.

While there is little sign that Congress will take significant action this year to significantly change the tide on energy policy, there is opportunity for policymakers in Washington to take important steps to keep current clean energy incentives going while looking at options to cut wasteful, environmentally harmful spending.

Clean Energy Tax Credits that Require Action in 2012

Unlike fossil fuel subsidies that are embedded in the tax code, these clean energy incentives need to be re-authorized from time-to-time and many have recently expired or are set to expire by the end of the year if Congress doesn’t take action.

• Section 48 Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for Offshore Wind Energy. Offshore wind energy represents a huge untapped resource that stands to generate clean electricity and increase manufacturing jobs for the future of the nation. There are still, however, no operating offshore wind facilities in U.S. waters. Section 48 should be extended for offshore wind facilities and bi-partisan legislation has been introduced in the House and Senate to do so.
• Section 45 Renewable Energy Production Tax Credit (PTC) . This provision has been a critical tool to support investments in renewable energy. The credit expires at the end of 2012, but uncertainty on whether Congress will act has already resulted in a sharp drop in investments in wind energy production, threatening the livelihoods of the more than 78,000 people in nearly every state in the nation who are now in wind-supported jobs. When Congress allowed the PTC to expire in the past, wind installations dropped between 73 and 93 percent.
• Tax Credits for Energy Efficient Homes & Appliances.  The Section 45L Efficient New Homes Tax Credit & Section 45M Efficient Appliances Manufacturer Tax Credit expired at the end of 2011.  These tax credits not only save consumers and homeowners money by promoting energy efficient appliances and home energy products, but also create jobs. These credits encourage domestic manufacturing of high-efficiency appliances and jobs installing home efficiency projects that cannot be exported.
• Section 48C Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit. This program leveraged vital private investments in new, expanded, or re-equipped clean energy manufacturing projects throughout the country. With applicants far exceeding the program’s original allocation, the program was able to leverage $5.4 billion in private investment, boosting growth and creating thousands of new U.S. manufacturing jobs for the burgeoning global renewable energy industry. Congress must pass an additional allocation for 48C, so that we can continue to grow our domestic renewable energy industry from the beginning to the end of the supply chain.
• Section 1603 Treasury Grant Program for Renewable Energy Projects.  Section 1603 has played a vital role in renewable energy deployment and expired at the end of last year. The program has leveraged over $22.8 billion in private sector investment to support over 2,000 projects representing over a dozen clean energy industries in all 50 states. According to a study by the U.S. Partnership for Renewable Energy Finance (a non-partisan educational program for policymakers), the Section 1603 program has generated over 115,000 jobs since it was enacted.
• Section 30B(d)(2)(B) Credits for Hybrid Medium- and Heavy-Duty Trucks.  Medium and heavy duty vehicles are second only to automobiles in oil consumption and they are responsible for 20 percent of U.S. transportation-based greenhouse gas emissions.  Hybrid and electric drives can increase fuel efficiency in trucks from 20 to more than 50 percent, yet the incentives for producing and deploying them expired in 2009. These incentives will help accelerate the development and deployment of more efficient and cleaner vehicles and help create domestic jobs.

Learn more about NWF’s efforts to promote clean energy that protects wildlife for our children’s future and what you can do to help.

Last Thursday, I was joined by a Catholic priest, a Jewish rabbi, a life member of the National Rifle Association, a young woman being home-schooled, a fly fisherman, the director of the Lackawanna River Corridor Association, Penn Future, and members of Occupy Scranton at a rally in front of Sen. Patrick Toomey’s (R-PA) district office in Scranton.

We were there to protest the senator’s unflagging support for the fossil fuel industry. In the two years Sen. Toomey has been in office, he has repeatedly voted against the interests of his own constituents.  For example, last November he voted to gut provisions of the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, which would curb smog and particulate-forming pollution from power plants in 27 states in the eastern half of the country.  Since air pollution is a significant health threat to Pennsylvanians, and we live downwind from hundreds of coal and oil-fired power plants, you would think he would have joined other moderate Republicans to support this rule.  But once again, the senator supported the fossil fuel industry.

He also cosponsored a bill that would have prohibited EPA from ever taking action on climate change.  He supported this bill despite a letter to congress from the prestigious National Academy of Sciences pointing out that climate change was real; we are the cause of the increased temperatures above natural levels; and there is an urgent need for action.

The senator even objects to EPA’s plan to reduce mercury emissions from cement plants, the third largest source of mercury pollution.  You know, it’s hard to believe anyone would be opposed to reducing mercury in the atmosphere.

Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that is carried by the wind, rain, and snow to all points of the globe, where it has been found in everything from salamanders to polar bears.  Once it’s deposited in lakes and streams, microorganisms convert it to methylmercury, a highly toxic form which bioaccumulates in aquatic life.  Eventually, upper levels of the food chain, like walleye, smallmouth bass, channel catfish, rock bass, and largemouth bass accumulate mercury in their tissues to unsafe levels.

Unfortunately, upper levels of the food chain includes us, and eating fish is the way most of us are exposed to mercury.

Mercury is so pervasive that 1 in 6 women of childbearing age has blood mercury levels that exceed those considered safe by the EPA for a developing baby. This amounts to approximately 630,000 babies born every year at risk of developmental problems because of prenatal mercury exposure.

Pennsylvania is fortunate that Sen. Robert Casey (D-PA) has joined with other senators to block these attacks on sensible rules to protect our health and environment.

If you go to Sen. Toomey’s web site, you’ll see a button asking you to let him know if you’ve Had Enough, and asking for stories about government over-regulation.  Let’s inundate the senator with comments about how we’ve Had Enough of him supporting the fossil fuel industry and how we’ve Had Enough of him voting against regulations that protect our health and environment.